


Of Fireworks and Firsts

by deathtouch



Series: Of Submissives and Their Owners [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Abused character, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - BDSM, Alternate Universe - Domestic, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cabins, Comfort, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Dom/sub Undertones, Domestic, Dominant/Submissive, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Married Couple, Married Life, Master/Pet, Multi, Oral Sex, Panic Attacks, Past Abuse, Past Torture, Petplay Undertones, Summer, Summer Vacation, Swimming, Threesome - M/M/M, Vacation, Worldbuilding, implied/referenced PTSD, side pairing - Fareeha "Pharah" Amari/Lena "Tracer" Oxton/Angela "Mercy" Ziegler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-08 16:16:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18626758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathtouch/pseuds/deathtouch
Summary: ☛ in which jack and gabe take jesse to a cabin by the lake for the fourth of july





	Of Fireworks and Firsts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LittlexSheep](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittlexSheep/gifts).



> this is a sequel. please read the other works in this series first! also please read and consider the additional tags on this fic! i chose not to use archive warnings, but that doesn't mean that none apply. this fic has multiple mentions of past abuse and other upsetting implications. also, jesse's age isn't specified so if (past) underage is something that bothers you, this fic may not be for you. 
> 
> written for the lovely [littlexsheep](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittlexSheep/pseuds/LittlexSheep) ([BaadBaadBlackSheep](https://baadbaadblacksheep.tumblr.com/) on tumblr) who was very kind to me and let me run wild with this fic! without them, there would be no sequels so everyone say thank you to our sheepy friend!!
> 
> and as always thank you to my amaaazing beta [subwaywolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SubwayWolf/pseuds/SubwayWolf). a true god among men. his expert editing is the cherry on top of all my fic. thanks for all your effort, subwaywolf!
> 
> ★ loosely based on [these tweets](https://imgur.com/yQF7Anc)

 

  
  
Dappled sunlight fell, filtered through the leaves of nearby trees, over the car in speckled spots of bright light. A small, hot breeze sent the branches ruffling. As far as they were from civilization, miles and miles from any real towns or proper roads, it was noisy out here in the middle of nowhere. The cooling engine of the SUV tick-tick-ticked steadily. The bugs in the trees made their noises, a constant shrill sound that rose and fell in steady waves.  
  
Jesse was looking out at the trees that surrounded their cabin with reasonable nervousness. He was being brave, but it was clear how uncertain he was. Hopefully all he needed was a little reassurance.  
  
"Remember," Gabriel said to him, taking the sub by the wrist and pulling him close. "We're going to stay here for a few days, and then we'll all go home together."  
  
Jesse nodded.  
  
"C'mon, let's finish taking everything inside." Gabe planted a quick kiss to the side of Jesse's face before pulling away.  
  
They worked together to unpack the car, pulling suitcases from the trunk. With a task to perform, Jesse had something else to focus on and seemed a little less anxious. It took a few minutes to get everything from the car into the cabin. By the time Gabe was closing the hatchback and hitting the locks, he was the only one left out front.  
  
He went to join his husband and sub inside. He got a good look at their accommodations, turning on ceiling fans as he went; one in the living room, one in the little kitchen, and one in the bedroom. They only had one AC unit set up in the window to cool the entire cabin. The circulation wasn’t just helpful, but also necessary with how hot it was outside. It was all nicely furnished with a comfortable sofa, a TV, and a decent bathroom.   
  
Since this was some kind of honeymoon suite, there was a nice big bed with a treated wood frame and a massive hot tub in the screened-in porch out back. Gabriel and Jack weren’t celebrating their honeymoon, or even an anniversary. It just happened to be one of few cabins available for the Fourth of July weekend that suited their needs.   
  
They began emptying their suitcases. The chain cord above them click-clicked against the light fixture as the fan blades whirred quietly. Jesse sat cross legged on the bed and watched as Jack and Gabriel unpacked. They tucked their clothes away in the little dresser against the wall and toted their toiletries into the bathroom. When they were done emptying their bags, they went to the kitchen to unpack some of the food they had brought with them. They were only going to be staying for a few days, and they planned to cook out on the barbeque or a campfire for most of them, but they had other options too.  
  
“We’ve still got all afternoon. Should we try going to the lake?” Jack asked, setting a box of power bars on the counter.   
  
An interesting question. The lake was just a short, two-minute walk away. In fact, because this was a romantic honeymoon package, they had their own private beach awaiting them. The only problem was that to get there, they would need to walk through a little path in the woods, surrounded on all sides by thick foliage and tall trees.   
  
Gabriel cast Jesse a curious glance and considered for a moment. He wondered if it might be better to stick around in the cabin awhile and wait until Jesse was completely settled. He seemed to be doing alright, all things considered. He wasn’t speaking very much, but that wasn’t entirely a surprise.   
  
He easily became unresponsive when he was uncertain, and there was a lot for him to be uncertain about. This was their first vacation they had ever taken with him, and presumably his first ever. Jesse had grown so talkative at home recently, but this little trip was likely to be a quiet one for them with the way things were going.   
  
Gabriel reached out for Jesse, running his fingers through the sub’s soft brown hair before cradling the back of his head and drawing him in for a hug. “What do you think, Jess. Do you want to go to the lake?”   
  
Jesse shrugged, which was more of a reply than Gabe expected to get. Taking that as a good sign, he looked at Jack and nodded. “Yeah, let’s try it.”   
  
They traded their clothes for swim trunks and grabbed their towels. When they were dressed and ready, the three of them left through the back porch. There was a grassy yard behind the cabin, not very big, but it had enough space for a fire pit and room to play games like cornhole or ladder ball. The yard abruptly met the tree line and there was a clear trail cutting through the woods.   
  
Before they even approached the trees, Gabriel wrapped his arms around Jesse from behind. The same way he used to do when Jesse had tantrums and meltdowns, holding on to him until he stopped panicking. The same way he did every night in bed, cradling him from behind as they fell asleep. It evoked calm and comfort. Jesse would always be safe so long as he was in Gabriel’s arms.   
  
Gabe leaned in to press his lips to the sub's ear. "There's nothing to be scared of," he whispered, hugging Jesse tight. "We’re going to walk through these woods here to the lake, and then we’ll all come back together when we’re done. Jack and I love you. No one is going to leave you. Understand?”  
  
Jesse’s eyes were on the trees.   
  
“Understand?” Gabriel repeated, calmly. “Nod your head to show you heard me.”   
  
It took a long moment, but Jesse nodded.   
  
Gabriel kissed his ear. “Good. Let’s go.”   
  
Jack started ahead of them, waving them along. Jesse clutched Gabe’s hand tightly in his own as they started down the path. He kept looking back, glancing towards the cabin that was slowly disappearing behind them, like he was trying to remember the way in case he got lost.  
  
The ground slowly transitioned from dirt to sand. The woods thinned, then opened up to the waterfront, a swath of sandy beach lining the shore. Lake Monroe stretched out before them, serene and blue. Jesse stopped in his tracks at the tree line, blinking at the massive body of water. They could see the opposite shore in the distance but from left to right the lake stretched out into the horizon.  
  
Gabriel felt his hand being pulled and he stopped walking too, turning to look back at Jesse. “Ever seen a lake before?” He asked.  
  
Jesse swallowed and shook his head.  
  
“It’s not scary,” he promised. “Come on.”  
  
Jack was already ahead of them and he went to get in first, setting the example. He toed off his shoes and bent one foot up after the other to pull off his socks. He left both on the shore, a safe distance from the water, before heading straight for the lake and wading in.  
  
Gabe tugged gently on Jesse’s hand. “See, look. Jack’s going in.”  
  
Jesse took a few tentative steps onto the beach but that was about it.   
  
“How’s the water?” Gabriel asked, toeing off his own shoes.  
  
“It’s nice.” Jack beckoned them closer.  
  
“Come on.” Gabriel lead the way, pulling a cautious Jesse along with him. He stopped at the shore where the water lapped along the beach. It didn’t roll like ocean waves but it had some movement. He took a few steps in and waited patiently for Jesse to do the same.  
  
“Try it out,” Gabe urged him.  
  
Jesse hesitantly dipped a toe in. The shallows were warm from the sun, but still cool compared to how hot it was outside. After a moment’s hesitation he stepped in fully, standing ankle deep in the water. Using their joined hands, he pulled Gabriel over to him and went to hide a tentative smile against Gabe’s shoulder. With their eyes on him, watching him, waiting to see how he would react, he was feeling a little shy, it seemed.  
  
“Do you know how to swim?” Gabe asked, guiding Jesse slowly towards deeper water.   
  
Jesse shook his head.   
  
“That’s okay. Just stick close to me and Jack. We won’t go too deep.”   
  
They spent the rest of the afternoon in the shallows and relaxing lakeside. Jesse eventually grew bold enough to wade chest deep, water lapping at his leather harness and kissing his collarbones. His bandana grew wet and stuck to his skin. He watched with rapt attention when Jack decided to show off and do a couple of underwater handstands. He wasn’t brave enough to try holding his breath and ducking under the water, but that was alright. They had all weekend to try those things.   
  
When their fingers turned into raisins they returned to the shore. Jesse sat with his feet in the water and his butt on the beach. With encouragement he wrote his name in the sand, and then Jack’s and then Gabriel’s, though he needed help to remember some of the letters. He was getting better at reading and writing, but he wasn’t anywhere close to proficient yet.   
  
As soon as Jack started turning pink, the tell-tale signs of a sunburn, they decided to head back.   
  
They walked with their shoes in hand. Jesse was smiling happily, too busy being pleased with all the frolicking in the water he’d done to worry about the encroaching trees. Since they were covered in sand and still dripping wet, they had to stop on the steps of the back porch to clean themselves up. Gabriel ventured inside to find his phone that he’d left in the cabin. When he came back Jack was wringing out Jesse’s bandana as Jesse nervously waited for him to be done.   
  
“Angela and Fareeha are at their cabin,” Gabriel reported as he scrolled through the texts on his phone he had missed. “They want to know if they should come over.”   
  
Jack handed Jesse’s bandana back. “You think that’s too much in one day?” He asked.   
  
Gabe considered. It wasn’t so much Angela and Fareeha he was worried about. Jesse already knew Angela, and Fareeha was about as calm and collected as any one human could be. The two of them had recently gotten a sub of their own, though. A rescue and retired sprinter. Neither Gabriel nor Jack had met her yet, but she was apparently very high energy. It was probably a better idea to wait until Jesse was more comfortable to introduce the two subs. Gabe hoped they could be friends, after all. Jesse needed a few sub friends to spend time with.   
  
“I’ll tell them you’re too sunburnt to entertain guests,” Gabriel said, smirking at his phone as he texted Fareeha back.   
  
“I’m not that sunburnt!” Jack called after him.   
  
“Yeah, not yet.”   


* * *

  
That night, Jesse slept like a rock. They all did. Packing and unpacking the car, the long drive, all the swimming in the lake, and the mid-summer heat had sapped all their energy. Gabriel was a little worried that their sub would have hard time falling asleep somewhere new, but that wasn’t the case. He curled up between Jack and Gabe like he always did and then he was out like a light. He didn’t even have any nightmares; if he did, he didn’t wake either of his owners with tossing and turning.  
  
Gabe woke first the next morning. Usually an early riser, he was surprised by how late in the morning it was when he finally crawled out of bed. Sunlight was already streaming in through all the different windows, the pale curtains doing little to stop the light from shining through. The entire cabin was bright and warm, birds were chirping outside, cicadas were already making their noises.   
  
Gabriel went to the kitchen and the little coffee maker there to brew himself a cup. He was standing at the counter when he heard the sounds of floorboards creaking. Two arms slid around his waist, hugging him fondly. Soft lips touched the curve of his neck, and then he felt the warm, familiar weight of someone resting their head against his shoulder.  
  
“Morning,” Gabe greeted.   
  
“Morning,” Jack grumbled back. Between the two of them, he sounded significantly sleepier. He pressed their bodies closer together, nudging his hard-on against Gabe’s backside.   
  
Oh. Gabriel raised up an eyebrow. “Want something?” He asked, bemused.   
  
“Can I give you head?”   
  
_Oh_. It had been a long time since they had done something like that. A lot of things in their life had changed once they rescued Jesse, sex and intimacy included. They still had sex, of course, but it was different now. There was someone else to account for.   
  
A lot of subs were kept for the sole purpose of sex, and sex only. Jesse‘s circumstances were a little different. They hoped he could be a part of their sex life, but they had no idea what had happened to him with his previous owners; if he had experienced any kind of sexual abuse or not. They included him in small ways, but always took things slow. While Jesse seemed eager, Jack and Gabe made a concerted effort not to push him into doing something he didn’t want to do.  
  
Until recently, they hadn’t even known his STI status. He’d since gone to see Doctor Angela a handful of times, and after some blood work and a few swab tests he was declared STI-free. Gabriel would be lying if he said he wasn’t surprised. He was happy of course, but he knew abandoned subs were at a higher risk for that kind of thing. Some viral infections had no visible symptoms, and they had been walking a fine line with him until they were sure he didn’t have anything.  
  
Their sex life hadn’t suffered in the slightest. They still fucked. Usually with Jesse around, watching and participating, but little things like early morning blow jobs or lazy afternoon prostate massages had fallen by the way side for whatever reason. Gabe was more than happy to bring them back.   
  
“Right here? In the kitchen?” he asked, not that he was opposed. He just wanted to know if Jack was serious.   
  
Jack hummed thoughtfully, kissing his neck again. “Hmm, maybe the couch.”   
  
That seemed reasonable. Gabriel collected his coffee and his phone and went out to take a seat on the soft, cushiony sofa in the small living room. Jack trailed after him, and then got down on his knees, situating himself between Gabe’s spread thighs.   
  
They wasted no time. Gabe pushed down the waistband of his boxers enough to take his dick out. He wasn’t hard yet, but it wasn’t from lack of interest. Jack waited impatiently as Gabriel stroked himself a few times, and then he took his husband’s cock into his mouth eagerly, groaning happily as he did.   
  
Gabriel felt himself stiffening up immediately. He relaxed back against the back of the couch, took a sip of his coffee, and unlocked his phone to check his e-mail. If Jack wanted his attention, he could work for it. They had been together long enough, over a decade. Gabe knew full well that being ignored was the best way to get Jack all riled up.   
  
He was right, of course. He could see over the edges of his phone screen as a determined look crossed Jack’s features. He went to work giving Gabe head as promised. He didn’t just bob his head; he put his whole neck and shoulders into it, moving up and down on Gabriel’s cock. He let hot drool escape the seal of his lips. It made everything wet and messy and caused filthy slurping noises as he worked. It felt so damn good, Gabe had a hard time pretending to focus on his phone. He was just staring at his inbox, not reading anything...   
  
After a few minutes, Jack pulled back to catch his breath. He brought a hand up to jerk Gabe off while his mouth was gone. The other hand clearly went to his own cock, stroking himself through his boxers. Gabe lifted a bare foot, nudging it against Jack’s forearm, pushing his arm away.   
  
“Not yet,” he said, sounding husky with how turned on he was.   
  
Jack made a charming, frustrated little noise before diving back in with his mouth. It took everything Gabe had not to buck up into that incredible warmth. He didn’t want this to end too soon. He did abandon the pretense of his phone, at least, tossing it on the cushion aside him. He threaded his fingers through Jack’s messy blonde hair instead, letting out a hot breath that tapered into a low, rumbling growl of want.   
  
Just as they were starting to really get into it, Gabriel noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He was hard pressed to tear his gaze away from Jack’s lips, wrapped around his cock, but he glanced up anyway. He found a sleepy looking Jesse standing in the doorway to the bedroom, half hidden by the door frame. He was looking in on them curiously.  
  
Jack noticed Gabriel looking away, presumably ignoring him again, and he doubled his efforts. He took Gabriel deep into the back of his throat and swallowed, the hot, silk of the back of his throat convulsing around the head of his cock. Gabriel gasped, tensing up all over. He tightened his grip on Jack’s hair and pulled him off. Jack made a particularly indignant noise, and to his credit he readily brought a hand up to start jerking Gabe off if he couldn’t suck.   
  
“Hey, Jess,” Gabe called out to him. He didn’t need to be too loud, of course. The cabin was too small for that.   
  
Jack finally caught on and he slowed his hand movements some but thankfully didn’t stop. “Want to join us?” He asked, voice all gravelly from sucking dick.   
  
Jesse didn’t hesitate. He came wandering over, shuffling across the wooden floor. Only when he was close did he seem unsure about what to do, standing a little awkwardly by the couch.   
  
“Want to sit here with me?” Gabe offered, gesturing to the seat next to him. “Maybe Jack can suck you off, too? Or, you could kneel down on the floor where he is and take a turn at it. Only if you want to, buddy.”   
  
It took him a few seconds to decide. He seemed to be considering carefully, weighing both options. In the end he chose a seat next to Gabriel on the sofa, sitting down so close beside him that their thighs were touching. Gabe cast Jack a look that Jack mirrored right back, the both of them equally intrigued by Jesse’s choice.   
  
“I gotta do all the work around here, huh?” Jack smirked.   
  
“Like you don’t love it.” Gabe fondly shook his head. “Go on then, get to it.”   
  
Jack licked his lips and dove back in. His lips wrapped around Gabriel’s cock again, hot and velvety and so fucking perfect, his tongue so wet and warm and maddeningly pleasurable. Gabriel didn’t hide his gasp. Keeping a hand in place to work the shaft in curling, twisting strokes, Jack bobbed up and down on Gabe’s cock, coaxing out an orgasm. Gabe could feel it growing deep inside. A hot spike of pleasure that pulsed in time to Jack’s mouth on his cock; growing, burning, twisting luxuriously.   
  
Jesse was watching, enraptured, brown eyes wide. His own cock was hard, sticking up stiffly between his legs. Gabe felt a pull he couldn’t ignore, a desire that accompanied his growing climax, an insatiable need to get Jesse involved.   
  
“Jess,” he groaned, unable to mask the hot, dark lust in his voice. “Can I kiss you? I wanna taste your spit when I come.”   
  
Jesse whimpered helplessly and leaned in, crashing his lips into Gabriel’s. They kissed each other, open mouthed and hot. Jesse was surprisingly good at kissing. He seemed to instinctively know how to turn his head, where to put his tongue, when to let Gabe take control and lick into his mouth and went to push back.   
  
The delicious sensation of kissing was that extra little cherry on top that made Jack’s amazing blowjob even better. It pushed Gabriel over the edge. That hot spike of pleasure exploded into a firework. His orgasm raced through him and he panted harshly against Jesse’s open mouth as he came into Jack’s; his husband’s wet, pink lips milking each last drop of come from him.   
  
When it was over Gabriel relaxed back against the back of the couch, tension leaving his body. He and Jack both caught their breath. Jesse waited patiently, though his cock was clearly aching, already leaking slick precome.   
  
“Your turn, Jess?” Jack asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His voice sounded broken in the best way.   
  
Jesse nodded his head eagerly.   
  
How could they say no to him?   
  
Jack moved, crawling from his spot on the floor just a few feet down so that he could kneel between Jesse’s spread thighs instead. He didn’t dive right into it like he might have with Gabe, though. He started out easy with a gentle touch, stroking up Jesse’s leg and then running his palm over the soft brown hair of Jesse’s thighs. Jesse shivered at the touch.   
  
“Remember,” Gabriel leaned in close to his ear. “If we do something you don’t like, just say ‘no’ and we’ll stop. Alright?”   
  
Jesse nodded. He knew.   
  
With the boundaries clearly laid out, Jack reached out to wrap his fingers around Jesse’s cock. Jesse drew in a soft breath, his muscles visibly shifting under his skin as he jumped a little. Jack stroked him easily a few times, coming in close to breathe warm breath over Jesse’s skin. His thumb circled around the head of Jesse’s cock, picking up juicy precome, putting pressure on the sensitive underside.   
  
“Ready?” Jack asked him.   
  
“Please,” Jesse breathed.   
  
Jack took Jesse’s cock into his mouth, just the tip at first, but he slowly sank down on it, accepting more and more of it into his mouth. It was a hell of a thing to watch. Jesse cried out almost immediately, clearly a noise of pleasure. His hand shot out, reaching for the closest thing to grab on to for dear life. He ended up digging his fingers into Gabriel’s thigh.   
  
“There you go,” Gabe said. He wrapped an arm around Jesse and leaned in to kiss the round of his shoulder. “Relax, buddy. Let Jack make you feel good.”   
  
Jesse became a whimpering mess as soon as Jack started moving his head. He was moving at a slow, calculated pace; much different from the frantic way he’d fucked his face onto Gabe’s cock. This was more deliberate, more careful, meant for sensuality. Jesse reacted with enthusiasm all the same, noises flowing from his throat, hips jerking upwards, breath gone heavy.   
  
“You can come whenever you want to,” Gabe whispered, lips pressed to Jesse’s skin.   
  
It didn’t take much longer than that for his climax to reach him, cresting over him like a wave. It made his back arch and he tilted back his head, showing off the thick curve of his throat. He squeezed Gabe’s thigh so damn hard he was bound to leave bruises. Gabriel watched with lusty interest as Jack took him deep and, with closed-eye concentration, swallowed down Jesse’s come for breakfast.   
  
Jesse did his own flopping back against the cushions when it was all said and done. He was all happy and sated, eyes half-lidded, chest rising and falling slowly. He stared down at Jack and a small smile turned up the edges of his mouth.   
  
“Thank you.”   
  
Jack pulled off of his softening cock with a wet pop. “You’re welcome, baby.” He smiled.   
  
“Should we be nice and let Jack come, too?” Gabe asked.   
  
Jesse smiled a little wider and nodded.   
  
Jack didn’t need any more excuse than that. Using his palm, he wiped the drool from his chin that had come dripping down his face during the blowjob. Hand now slick, he thrust it beneath the waistband of his boxers and started jerking off. The wet noises coming from his lap were like sweet music. He had obviously been aching for it for a while because he closed his eyes at once, face struck with the sudden expression of pleasure; eyebrows drawn together, jaw slack, dick sucking lips parted.   
  
“Aw, look,” Gabriel nudged Jesse a little. “His mouth is all empty now. Poor Jack. I bet he wants something in there. You should put your fingers in for him to suck on”   
  
Jesse raised up his eyebrows. He looked down at his own hand like he’d never seen it before. He glanced between it and Jack’s open mouth a few times before giving in. He brought two of his fingers up to Jack’s lips, sliding them in over his owner’s tongue. Jack must have heard what Gabriel had said but he still made a soft, surprised sound. His lips sealed around Jesse’s fingers at once, and the motions of his arm jerking himself off quickened.   
  
He came soon after, moaning hot and loud around Jesse’s fingers.   


* * *

  
After some time to recover and clean up, and a round of showers for all three of them, they ate a late breakfast and headed out. With a cooler packed full of beer, they all piled into the SUV and went to spend the day with Angela and Fareeha who were staying further down the shore.  
  
Although their cabin was near identical, the surrounding area was definitely different. There weren’t any woods nearby. Out back, behind the cabin, there was a set of wooden stairs cut into the side of the swiftly-sloping backyard. A small pier jutted out from the bottom of the stairs, stretching out onto the calm blue lake.   
  
That was where everyone set up, gathering together lawn chairs, fishing poles, and a plenty of food and drinks to last the day. They relaxed in the sun, caught up with each other on how things were going in their lives, and enjoyed the serenity of Lake Monroe.   
  
Tracer, the retired sprinter, was every bit as energetic as expected. She was small but fit, muscles corded all through her legs. She had soft brown hair, big amber eyes, and freckles splashed all across her face. It was easy to see why Angela and Fareeha had fallen for her. Gabe was apparently a sucker for brown eyes, too. He never would have guessed, considering Jack’s eyes were blue, but every time he looked at Jesse’s face, he knew it was true.   
  
Tracer was unfailingly cheerful, smiling about everything, and she followed Fareeha around like it was her job. It was hard to believe a sub who smiled so much had spent most of her life stuck in a small wire cage, packed in a warehouse with other sprinters, only let out for a few hours a day to run track for the amusement of gamblers and drunks.   
  
Even though she wasn’t much older than Jesse, she was apparently old enough for retirement. For sprinters, that either meant being disposed of or used for breeding. Tracer had thankfully been rescued before anything bad happened to her. Well, anything worse than the dire living conditions, lack of love and affection, and forced sprinting she’d been enduring up until then.   
  
“She had a name,” Angela was telling Jack. “A real name, not just the racing name used for score cards. Most sprinters are born being called one thing and given new ones that make them sound ‘fast’.” Her tone made it clear what she thought of that.   
  
She had a sunhat on, casting patterned shadow over her face. She was the most put together of all of them, with her comfortable sundress and sparkly sandals. Her hair was twisted into a lazy ponytail and she wasn’t wearing any make up, the only tell that she was on vacation at all and not off to a very important brunch somewhere.   
  
Fareeha, by contrast, looked so mismatched and messy it was hard to imagine the two of them as friends, much less madly in love and married. She, like Jack and Gabriel, was wearing mesh shorts and a tank top with sleeve holes so damn big it was almost a bad joke. Unlike Jack and Gabriel, she had a bathing suit top on underneath. Her dark hair was wind ruffled and she sat relaxed back in her lawn chair, drinking beer, lazily watching her fishing line.   
  
“Bring me something blue,” Fareeha told Tracer.   
  
Tracer stood with her hands on her hips and surveilled the area with a critical eye. Because a few of them were fishing, or trying to, Tracer wasn’t allowed to spend the entire day doing cannon balls off the edge of the pier, which was apparently devastating news to her. She kept begging to go on a run, but no one wanted to move from their comfy seats to accompany her. Instead, she was kept busy by playing this little game. Fareeha would describe an object using a single adjective; blue, soft, heavy, plastic, green, etcetera, and Tracer would run and fetch it.   
  
Fareeha had a collection of items beside her lawn chair already. Blades of grass, a neon orange lure from the tackle box, a shiny bottle cap, a couple of small sticks. Jesse had been invited to play, but shook his head when asked. He sat near Jack with his feet hanging over the edge of the pier, resting in the cool water. He was watching all the events of the game with extreme interest, though.   
  
Cleverly, Tracer knelt down to scoop up a handful of water. She thrust her cupped hands at Fareeha triumphantly.   
  
“Something blue!” She announced.   
  
“Even though there are usually meticulous records kept on subs involved in sports, there’s no record of her original name anywhere.” Angela went on explaining, sipping intermittently at her wine cooler. “She doesn’t remember what they called her before she started sprinting.”   
  
Fareeha shook her head.  “That’s not blue, that’s clear.”  
  
Tracer gasped, shocked to be denied. She abandoned the handful of water, letting it splatter on the deck and instead swept her hand towards the lake. “The whole lake is blue! It counts!”  
  
“She might remember someday,” Jack said thoughtfully. “For now, she doesn’t seem to mind being called Tracer. There are certainly worse names to have.”   
  
“Water is clear, it’s not blue. Bring me something blue.”   
  
Tracer’s face twisted into a frown. She glanced around at all the items on the pier and the surrounding back yard where she was allowed to pick from. Gabriel peeled off the blue label of his half empty beer bottle and held it out for her, not saying anything. Tracer gasped with excitement and dashed over to grab it at once. He offered her a wink and she winked back before delivering it to Fareeha.   
  
“Okay, one point,” Fareeha awarded her. It was clear that the points system for their game was made up and ultimately didn’t matter, but Tracer seemed inordinately pleased anyway. “Bring me something red.”   
  
“True,” Angela agreed, bleakly recalling something she must have seen while searching for sprinters to adopt. “Some pour soul at the same rescue was named Thunder Gulch.”   
  
Jack choked on his drink.   
  
“Jesse!” Tracer pointed at him. “Let me have that thing around your neck!”   
  
Jesse seemed surprised to be addressed. His eyes went wide.   
  
“That’s his bandana,” Jack interjected after his short coughing fit subsided. He reached out to stroke his fingers through Jesse’s hair, soothing him a little. “He doesn’t like to take it off. Do you think you can find something else?”   
  
Tracer came to stand beside Angela, which put her next to Jack and Jesse as well. She looked at Jesse curiously. He incidentally had his back turned to them so he could dangle his feet in the water. It made him look like a mysterious loner, with an air of intrigue cloaked about him. Considering how little they knew about his past, it wasn’t an entirely inaccurate impression to give off.   
  
“Why doesn’t he like to take it off?” Tracer asked.  
  
“Darling, Jack asked you a question,” Angela said to her. “Remember, you’re supposed to answer when asked something. If you want to ask your own question, that’s fine, but it’s polite to reply first.” Since sprinters spent most their time in cages, they weren’t always well socialized. Tracer actually had great manners, but still seemed to slip up now and again. All things considered, the mistake was mild, but she took the chastisement seriously.   
  
“I understand ma’am,” she said, lowering her head politely. “I can find something else, sir. Thanks.”   
  
“Good girl.” Angela gave her a polite pat on the behind. “Run along now.”   
  
Tracer didn’t exactly run along, though. She went to go join Jesse at the edge of the dock. She folded herself to sit down, bending up one knee so she could hug it to her chest. She kept staring at him, curious as ever.   
  
“Hey,” she whispered to him. “How come you don’t like to take that thing off?”   
  
Jesse just shrugged his shoulders, paying attention to his feet in the water like anything about the sight had changed in the last hour and a half that he’d been sitting there.   
  
Jack and Angela started talking again. The reel on Fareeha’s fishing rod click-clicked. Water lapped softly against the pier. A jet ski motor rumbled in the far distance. Gabriel had to focus to hear what Tracer was saying.   
  
Because they were equals, subs were often allowed to speak to each other in a way that they couldn’t quite with their owners. Whereas they had to obey their owners no matter what, they could be friendly with one another. They didn’t have to worry about hierarchy or obedience when it was just two or more subs spending time together. Friendships between subs were so, so important. They needed someone in a similar position to talk to and be comfortable with.  
  
“Angela said you don’t talk much. She said not to be mad if you don’t talk to me. So, I’m not mad. You don’t have to tell me.”   
  
Jesse didn’t have anything to say to that either, apparently, but he did glance at Tracer out of the corner of his eye.   
  
“You’ll still be my friend, though. Won’t you? Want to help me find something else red?”   
  
After a moment of stillness where it looked like he still wouldn’t reply, Jesse shifted. He looked past Tracer, over her shoulder and down the dock. He lifted his hand and pointed at the cooler sitting nearby; the one he had watched Jack pack this morning. She whipped around to look at it, but it was a white and grey cooler, not red.   
  
Tracer hummed quizzically. She glanced back at Jesse, looking him up and down. Apparently, she decided to trust him on this one. She got up and wandered over to the cooler, lifting the lid to find brown bottles of beer, pink wine coolers, some snacks...   
  
“Aha!” She snatched up a shiny red apple sitting among the snacks and ran it to Fareeha at once.  
  
“One point for you, and one point for Jesse,” Fareeha rewarded.   
  
“Yes!” Tracer put a fist in the air and pulled it down triumphantly.   
  
“Now go put this back.”   
  
Gabriel felt himself relaxing a little, unaware that he had been on edge. He knew he cared about Tracer and Jesse getting along, but he had no idea just how much until now. Jesse was such a good sub who had been through so much in his life. It felt good to know he had a family who loved him, who would always take care of him, and now... he even had his very own friend.   


* * *

  
After the sun went down into a beautiful golden sunset that shimmered over the calm surface of the lake, they made a fire in the backyard. There was already a circle of flat rocks all set up and the charred remains of previous fires left within. Gabriel enlisted Jesse to help him get it started.   
  
There was already a handful of chopped wood piled up against the back wall of the cabin. The only other things they needed were kindling and tinder. Jesse was in charge of hunting the back yard for small sticks and twigs or dry leaves in the grass while Gabe hacked at a large piece of firewood to create a bunch of small pieces to use.   
  
They stacked up the wood in a log cabin pattern to match the cabins they were renting. Jesse stepped back as soon as Gabriel struck a match and tossed it in. The kindling went up at once, sparking bright gold firelight.   
  
Tracer zipped back and forth from the fire pit to the cabin. She went bounding in through the screened-in back porch to grab food and drinks and other supplies found in the kitchen there. She would then come darting back out to deliver it to Fareeha who was sitting fireside. How she hadn’t run out of steam yet was a mystery.   
  
By the time they were all set up and ready, the sky was dark blue overhead, speckled white with stars. The fireflies had come out in full, lighting up the back yard, glowing green spots blinking on and off around them. The fire cast orangey light and black shadows on the faces of everyone sitting around it. Its immense heat added to the mid-summer warmth hanging muggy in the air.  
  
For dinner, they ate the all-important classic campfire meal of hot dogs on sticks roasted over the open flame. Really, what was the point of staying in a log cabin if they weren’t going to cook hot dogs over a campfire? Jesse, of course, ate more than anybody. Devouring unreasonable amounts of food was his specialty. So long as he was still gaining healthy weight, Gabe saw no reason to deny him.   
  
“Man, Jesse. Don’t Jack and Gabe feed you?” Fareeha asked playfully, elbows on her knees as she leaned towards the fire. She had a half-eaten hot dog in hand and an amused expression on her face.   
  
“Yes,” Jesse hissed, so suddenly and with such intensity that Gabriel was actually taken aback. He hadn’t said anything to anyone else all day today and now he felt like talking? And with such aggression? “Jack and Gabriel is _always_ feedin’ me.”   
  
“Hey,” Gabe put a stern hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “Watch your tone. We don’t talk to people like that.”   
  
Jesse sulked back, leaning against Gabe’s lawn chair to be closer to him; closer to safety.   
  
“It’s just a saying, buddy. Fareeha doesn’t mean anything by it.”   
  
Fareeha remembered too late the circumstances in which Jesse had been rescued. How he wasn’t just scarred up by a cruel spiked collar, or chicken-scratch tattoos. How he wasn’t just chained to a tree and left for dead. How he wasn’t just sick, and bruised, with matted hair and dirt on his skin. He had been so painfully skinny. So thin they could count his ribs. So hungry he made himself sick whenever he tried to eat.   
  
She hadn’t been there to see it, hadn’t properly been introduced to Jesse until this weekend, but she had heard about it. If not from Jack and Gabe themselves, than surely from her mother, Ana, who had been there those first few days after Jesse was found. Hearing about it and seeing it were two different things, of course. The sub she saw before her now was tall, thick in the right ways, and building muscle. It was hard to imagine him as scrawny and sickly. Hard to remember that hunger was something very real, something that had affected him profoundly, and something that shouldn’t necessarily be joked about.   
  
“I’m sorry, Jesse,” Fareeha apologized readily. “It was a bad joke. I know Jack and Gabe care about you.”   
  
Jesse didn’t seem to know what to do with an apology. He stared ahead of him for a long minute, gazing at the fire as if it was especially interesting before giving in and mumbling “M’sorry too... for talkin’ rough.”   
  
“That was nice of you, Jess,” Gabriel said, commending him for apologizing without being told. He reached out to ruffle his hair a little.   
  
Jesse might have spent the rest of the night sulking, angry at himself for lashing out unkindly at someone and upset by the notion that Jack and Gabe didn’t feed him. It was hard to sulk when he was introduced to s’mores, though. It was almost funny that food brought his mood right back around again. Jack made one up for him, roasting the marshmallow until it blackened, resting it on a bed of milk chocolate and squishing it together between to graham crackers.   
  
“Careful, it’s hot,” he warned before handing it over.   
  
Jesse didn’t care; he took a bite of it anyway and he looked almost as pleased now as he had this morning after coming in Jack’s mouth. Almost. He hurried to eat the whole thing, making a sticky marshmallow mess of his fingers. He was lucky he was cute.   


* * *

  
After they were all full from dinner and exhausted from a long day in the sun, Jack and Gabriel decided to call it a night. They made plans to meet up the next day and make use of their private backyard. They said good night to Angela and Fareeha, waved to Tracer who was determinedly hunting down fireflies, and headed back to their cabin.  
  
Jack helped Jesse take his harness off as soon as they were inside. With how hot it was out, it was no surprise that there was sweat glistening on his skin where the leather had been. Gabriel took the harness and sat at the foot of the bed to clean it with warm water and a wash cloth. They would need to do a better deep clean when they got home, but this would work for now.   
  
“He’s got tan lines,” Jack said, stifling a laugh.   
  
When Gabe looked closely, he could indeed see faint tan lines. Jesse’s skin was a hairs breadth paler where the straps had been. Ah, well. That couldn’t be helped. Plenty of subs had tan lines from their collars in the summer.   
  
He just smirked, shook his head, and went back to cleaning. “Better than a sunburn.”   
  
“Which I also managed to avoid today,” Jack pointed out somewhat smugly. “Feel free to be impressed with your handsome husband and his many talents.”   
  
“Still sunburnt from yesterday,” Gabe muttered without looking up. It was true, after all. Jack’s cheeks were soft pink, and they had been since last night. It was almost cute, like he was blushing about something. Gabe wasn’t sure he’d ever seen his husband _blush_ before. It was a good look for him.  
  
“Well. Jesse’s impressed with me. Aren’t you Jesse?” Jack asked, ignoring Gabe’s comment completely. He took Jesse’s hand in his own and headed off to the bathroom to watch over him while they brushed their teeth.   
  
Jesse was mostly used to this kind of banter by now and so he nodded in response. He hummed, a soft little mm-hm noise. He had learned he could very easily play sides and win favor by either readily agreeing with Jack on things or taking Gabe’s side instead. Said favor usually earned him kisses, which he always enjoyed.  
  
As expected, Jack pressed a quick kiss to the side of Jesse’s face. “At least someone appreciates me around here.”   
  
When they were done in the bathroom, they collapsed on the bed, cuddling up with one another like they always did. Jesse laid with his head on Jack’s chest, a strong arm around his shoulders. He watched the screen on Jack’s phone. He couldn’t read half of what was on there but that didn’t stop him from watching the words scroll by.   
  
Gabriel took his turn in the bathroom. He brushed his close-cropped hair and then his teeth, tidying up a little as he went. He couldn’t ignore the urge to sweep through the cabin and check that the doors were locked, and all the lights were off. That was always what he did at home. It felt weird to break the habit now. When he felt sure and safe that everything was locked up tight, he went to join his husband and sub in bed.   


* * *

  
They spent the next morning lazing around in the cabin. They had nothing to do, nowhere to be, and no obligations until Fareeha and Angela came around later in the afternoon. It was the titular Fourth of July and there was set to be a fireworks display over the lake after the sun went down. They all planned to watch from the beach out back.   
  
This was their last full day here. They would be heading home tomorrow. They decided to make the most of the screened-in back porch, enjoying the scenic backyard with none of the bugs to annoy them. They all had plenty of mosquito bites already. Jack kept scolding Jesse every time he itched his.   
  
“Are you going to let me teach you how to swim?” Jack asked, stroking Jesse’s hair. He was sitting in one of the wicker seats on the porch and Jesse was at his feet, comfortably resting his head on Jack’s thigh. He didn’t need to be down there, he was allowed to sit on the furniture, but he seemed to like it, so no one stopped him.   
  
Jesse looked up at Jack with his big brown eyes, a sort of hopeful expression on his face like he wanted to learn but was too uncertain.   
  
“We’ll start easy,” Jack assured him. “I’ll show you how to float on your back.”  
  
When lunch time rolled around, Gabriel broke out the portable grill for the vital task of grilling corn for elotes. Jack was usually the one who did the cooking, and he often had Jesse help him, but this was their vacation too so Gabe thought it would be nice to cook something for them for a change. He wasn’t much of a chef, and he only had a few recipes in his repertoire that he could pull off well, but elote was one of them.   
  
“We’re going to watch fireworks tonight too,” Jack said as Gabriel made lunch. He was still stroking Jesse’s hair, parting it different ways and fluffing it back to normal when he was done. “That’ll be fun, huh?”  
  
After eating and then subsequently cleaning up, Gabe got a text from Fareeha saying they were on their way. It was late afternoon, hot July sun high in the sky by the time she arrived with Angela and Tracer in tow. They gathered up the same supplies as the day before, coolers and lawn chairs, with the addition of beach towels, and they headed out to the lake.   
  
Tracer immediately ran ahead, despite both Angela and Fareeha calling out to her and yelling for her to slow down. Fareeha reluctantly jogged after her to make sure she didn’t get into any trouble. Jesse gripped tight on Gabe’s hand as they ventured into the woods, following the path. He was tense, but brave. It helped that they’d already walked through these woods before; Jesse hadn’t been left behind then so he wasn’t going to be left behind now.   
  
Tracer was already waist deep in water by the time everyone else arrived. Gabriel helped Angela set up the chairs in the sand while Jesse and Jack made their way into the shallows. Jesse was a little cautious about stepping into the lake until he remembered how much fun it was. He let Jack lead him in deeper.   
  
Angela sat on the beach with her sunhat and a book. Fareeha kept Tracer busy with different games, or feats of athleticism that she timed. There was nothing that worked Tracer up more than being timed. She was absolutely determined to beat any previous score she set for herself no matter what the task was. Whether it was running in knee deep water from one spot to another, swimming out to the buoy on the safety line and back or holding her breath underwater.   
  
Gabriel waded out to where Jack and Jesse were swimming chest-deep. Jesse was leaning back on Jack’s chest, eyes closed, a smile on his face as they shifted weightlessly in the cool water. Jack was whispering sweet words into Jesse’s ear, telling him how good he was. The noises of Tracer splashing, Fareeha calling time, and boat motors echoing from deep in the middle of the lake seemed to fade away. It was just the three of them together, in the water, under the sun.   
  
“Keep your head there,” Jack murmured softly. “Gabe’s gonna lift your feet up.”   
  
Without any prior coordination on how exactly they were going to teach Jesse to swim, Gabriel readily went along with what Jack was saying. He found Jesse’s thigh under the surface, fingers brushing down the outside of it, down to his muscled calf, all the way down to his ankles. He brought both of Jesse’s feet up, stepping back enough to give him room to lay flat.   
  
“Good, stay relaxed, put your arms out like I showed you-“ Jack guided him.   
  
Jesse’s head was still resting on Jack’s shoulder. They were cheek to cheek. His feet were in Gabe’s grip. He wasn’t going to sink. They had him. He was safe in their arms. He stretched his arms outward, one significantly longer than the other.   
  
“Chin back, further, there you go. Arch your back.” Jack had a hand there, on the small of Jesse’s back, helping to keep him in position. “Doing okay? Don’t nod, keep your head still.”   
  
Jesse hummed an affirmative noise instead of nodding. His eyes were still closed, sun too bright in the sky for him to open them. It made him look so peaceful.   
  
“Gabe’s going to let go of your feet. He’ll be right there if you need him. Just stay relaxed.”   
  
Jack waited a second before he gave Gabriel a small nod. Gabe let go and stepped back. Jesse kept his feet up all on his own.   
  
“Good,” Jack smiled, this proud beaming grin that Gabriel rarely got to see. He loved the way it looked on his husband’s face. It matched his sunburn blush adorably. “I’m going to step back a little and count to five. Keep your back straight, head back...”   
  
Jack carefully slid Jesse’s head off his shoulder, gently cradling the back of his head near his neck. Jesse’s posture loosened a little. Water rushing over his bare stomach. For a second there it looked like he might sink... but then he remembered to keep his back straight and he maintained his precarious back float. Counting slowly but surely, Jack went from one to five. By the end of his count, Jesse was starting to dip again, but he’d done it successfully.   
  
“Okay, relax. Turn over.”   
  
Jesse swiftly rolled from his back to his front, clutching for Jack to keep him up while his feet found solid ground at the bottom of the lake. Jack hugged him tight and kissed his face in a couple of different places.   
  
“You did it, buddy. That was great.”   
  
Gabe closed the distance between himself and the two of them. He grabbed onto Jesse’s hips from behind and moved in to kiss his shoulder. He could see Jesse hiding a smile as he nuzzled up under Jack’s chin.   


* * *

  
By the time the sun was setting, sky turning purple with bright orange clouds on the horizon, Jesse could float on his back all on his own with no one to hold his neck or spot him. He’d even adventurously dipped his head under water a few times after seeing Tracer do it. She showed him all the different strokes she knew, back stroke and butterfly and front crawl. Apparently Fareeha had been teaching her, taking her to the sub-friendly public pool to try and tire her out during the week. It didn’t seem to be working, but she was certainly learning how to swim. Jesse watched with great interest as she swam literal laps around him.   
  
He got to show off his own talent when they gathered on the beach to dry off. He sat in the sand and wrote his name: J E S S E. Jack helped him to write Tracer’s name by reminding him of what the T and C looked like. The rest of the letters he knew from Gabriel’s name. She stood over him, towel wrapped around her shoulders. Water dripped down from her body to the dry sand as she gaped in open-mouthed awe that Jesse could _write his own name_. She was very impressed.  
  
Jesse didn’t want to let Jack take his bandana off in front of anyone else, so it stuck to his skin soggy and wet long after the rest of him had dried. His lengthy brown hair was an adorable mess, drying in an odd way that somehow still suited him. The fireworks were set to start as soon as the sun was down at 8:30. They refueled with snacks and clean bottled water as they waited for the show to begin.   
  
“How come they’re shooting fireworks?” Tracer asked. She was sitting between Angela’s knees, facing out with her head bent so far back it was practically upside down just so she could get a look at Angela’s face.   
  
“It’s America’s birthday,” Angela explained, which was... kind of true.   
  
Tracer’s face twisted, and she pulled her mouth to one side quizzically. “Who’s that?”   
  
She never got an answer though, because the first fireworks shot up into the sky. The booming sounds as they exploded one right after the other echoed thunderously across the lake. They trailed like comets up into the sky, bursting with bright white light. Gabriel, who was standing beside the cooler, noticed Jesse flinch hard beside him. A second round of fireworks went up, the same effect with more loud booming. Jesse clapped his hands over his ears at once.   
  
“Hey, it’s okay,” Gabriel said to him. He went to wrap an arm around Jesse’s middle leaning in close to point at the sky. “It’s just lights. Look, they’re pretty.”   
  
The embers of the first fireworks sparkled, glittering as they floated back down to earth. Trails of smoke crisscrossed one another. Jesse shook his head frantically. If Gabriel was any further away, he would have missed the wounded whimper coming from his throat, or the sight of sudden tears springing to his eyes.   
  
Something was wrong.   
  
He wasn’t breathing right. Gabriel could feel his shoulders hitch as he failed to suck in air. Jack was sitting in the lawn chair in front of them and as if sensing that something bad was happening he turned to glance over his shoulder at the two of them. He caught sight of Jesse’s face and bolted up, ready to do something.   
  
The bang of another bright firework cracked across the sky, louder and more explosive than all the others so far. It lit up Jesse’s face, offering perfect lighting to see tears spilling from his eyes down his cheeks.   
  
Something was really wrong.   
  
Gabriel needed to get Jesse out of here. Now.  
  
“I’m taking him back,” Gabe called, loud enough for Jack to hear.   
  
Jack looked like he wanted to go with, but his gaze darted from their lawn chairs, their towels, their cooler and drinks all scattered across the sand. There was no way to gather it all up and get Jesse out of here quickly.   
  
“Stay, walk the others back.”   
  
Jack nodded.   
  
Before things could get any worse, Gabriel pulled Jesse away from the firework display. He ushered him along, towards the path back through the woods. Jesse went with him, hurrying, ready to be far away from all this. He realized a second later where they were headed and he stopped short, literally digging his heels in before they passed into the trees. He was scared. The bravery he had displayed all the other times he’d passed through here was nowhere to be found.   
  
Gabe grabbed Jesse’s upper arm, squeezing a little. “Walk,” he ordered sternly. He hated to do it, but he needed to get Jesse out of here. They needed to go.   
  
The sound of thundering fireworks behind them made Jesse jump again, spurring him foreword. He let out a pained sob but let himself be pulled along.  
  
They walked back in record time, bounding into the cabin where it was safe as soon as they reached it. They could still hear the fireworks, but the noises were thankfully quieter here. Gabe walked Jesse into the bedroom and right up to the bed, sitting him down on the edge of the mattress. Jesse swallowed, looking around the room with wide eyes.   
  
“Jesse,” Gabriel got down on one knee in front of him. “Breathe.”   
  
His breath was still coming in short gasps, stuttered and wrong.   
  
Gabe reached out for Jesse’s face, cupping both sides of his head between his hands. “Look at me,” he ordered, waiting for Jesse to focus. After a moment, Jesse’s eyes caught his and stayed, locked. “Breathe,” he said again.   
  
Jesse finally managed to suck in a breath. Then another. Fresh tears filled his eyes, tears of relief. He let out a deep, wavering sigh. Some of the tension left his body. He reached out, grabbing a handful of Gabe’s shirt to pull him closer, closer, closer until they were clutching one another in a tight hug.  
  
“It’s okay now. You’re okay,” Gabriel reassured him. “It’s all okay.”   
  
They stayed just like that for a while.   
  
Gabriel stroked his fingers up and down Jesse’s back. He listened to his breathing, making sure it was even. He waited for something to happen; another panic, more tears, anything. A particularly loud firework popped, and Jesse flinched again, but he maintained his stability.   
  
Gabriel got an idea. He pulled back. He met some resistance where Jesse didn’t want to let go, but that didn’t stop him. “It’s okay, Jess. I’m not leaving. Just give me one second.”  
  
He turned to the dresser and began to dig though the suitcase sitting open on top. He unearthed a set of earbuds that had been packed into the side pocket of his bag. With these, Jesse could listen to music and block out the loud bangs that had him twitching nervously. Earbuds in hand he climbed into bed. He sat up against the headboard and drew Jesse into his chest, hugging him, putting his arms around him.   
  
Jesse put the earbuds in his ears and plugged them into Gabe’s phone. He knew which app to press to find songs. He couldn’t read the titles, but he knew album artwork pretty well. He put it on shuffle, skipping past the tracks he didn’t like.   
  
“I’m sorry I grabbed your arm,” Gabriel apologized, stroking over where his fingers had dug in. There were no marks, but still. “I didn’t mean to be rough with you.”   
  
Jesse shrugged, accepting, engrossed in song selection. Not because it was especially interesting, but because it was better than thinking about what he’d just gone through.  
  
“And I’m sorry you didn’t like the fireworks, buddy.” Gabe added, giving Jesse a gentle squeeze. “I didn’t realize they would upset you so much.”  
  
“...looked like sparks,” Jesse mumbled, looking down at the phone, pushing the next button again and again.   
  
Gabriel stilled, stunned. He genuinely couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. Jesse usually shut down completely after outbursts of emotion; went silent, walled himself off. Except here he was, speaking.   
  
Well.   
  
There was a first time for everything. This whole weekend was full of firsts, it seemed.   
  
“Sparks?” Gabe repeated. He only had a vague idea of what that was supposed to mean, but he didn’t want to discourage Jesse from talking to him.  
  
Jesse kept clicking through songs, focused only on the phone screen. “...from the car battery.”   
  
“When did you see a car battery spark?”   
  
“When I was bad.”   
  
He finally found a song he liked and settled on it, letting it play. It was a song Jack had added to their music library, one he liked to sing around the house sometimes. Jesse turned the music up loud enough that Gabriel could hear it emanating from the earbuds. He got the message loud and clear. Jesse was done talking.   
  
Gabriel could feel his expression hardening, eyebrows coming together as he considered what Jesse had said. Did someone threaten him with a car battery? Did someone use a car battery on him? To punish him? He suddenly felt sick, a rush of nausea making his stomach churn. He would like to think that that wasn’t true, that no one in the world could do that to any sub - much less Jesse - but Gabriel wasn’t that naive.   
  
He had been in the military. He worked private security. He knew about the picana and the parilla. He knew how prevalent electrical torture was. How easy it was to come by. There were wall sockets in every home, car batteries and jumper cables in every garage, tasers sold in stores, cattle prods and stun batons sold online.   
  
Gabriel’s chest ached as he considered the very real possibility that Jesse had been subjected to some kind of electric torture. It unfortunately made sense. Jesse’s body, save for his neck, was free of scars. There was no need to whip the skin off his back when they could just shock him.  
  
God, and his neck. All that electricity running through him to that metal collar. Jesus. Fuck. Those marks there, hidden under his bandana... those scars weren’t just from the spikes, they were from blisters and burns; flesh seared by an electric current.   
  
A car battery. A fucking car battery. Someone had used a car battery for punishment. Someone had electrocuted his sub. _His_ sub. His sub who could write his own name, who could float on his back, who had his first friend. Someone had taken a twelve-volt battery and hooked him up to it; fourteen volts if the engine was running. Tortured him. Burned him. Made him suffer.   
  
Gabe thought about that day in the woods when he saw Jesse for the first time. Dirty and bloody and scared. Those big brown eyes peering out at him from between the trunks of trees and the foliage on the ground. His reddened skin, blood crusted and dried all down his neck. The horrible noises he made when Gabriel pried the collar off.   
  
Yet Jesse had still trusted Gabe to do it; let him lay hands on where he’d been hurt the most. The realization was overwhelming.  
  
“I’m so sorry, Jesse,” Gabriel whispered. He tenderly pressed his face to the top of Jesse’s head, kissing his soft hair.   
  
Jesse couldn’t hear him, but that was okay.   


* * *

  
Jesse nodded off with the music still playing. If he wasn’t spent from all the time outdoors, then surely the stress of the fireworks had worn him out. He ended up curled up on his side with his head in Gabe’s lap. Gabe shut the music off and stroked Jesse’s hair as he slept, watching the way his eyes moved behind his eyelids while he waited for Jack to come back to the cabin.   
  
Gabriel told Jack everything as soon as he got in; whispered it to him as Jesse slept soundly. He told Jack what Jesse had said. How the sparks reminded him of a car battery. How he’d seen car batteries when he was bad.   
  
He told Jack all the conclusions he’d jumped to from there about the kind of punishments Jesse had endured. About the scars on his neck and where they came from. He was half hoping Jack would laugh at him and tell him he was overreacting or misreading things. That he was wrong. That this hadn’t happened to Jesse.   
  
Except Jack sat on the edge of the bed and hung his head, soaking it in, obviously coming to those same conclusions.   
  
They whispered to one another, trying to make sense of it all. They thought back, back to the beginning when they first brought Jesse home. They found pieces of the puzzle hidden, waiting to make a bigger picture. How Jesse had recoiled wearily from vibrating toys. Of course, he didn’t want any part of them. Gabriel felt like such an idiot for ever suggesting one as a gift. The way he hated those rubber gloves under the sink. If someone was playing around with electricity and didn’t want to get shocked, they probably would have worn something similar. No wonder he got tense whenever he saw them.   
  
Gabe hoped it was just a car battery. He hoped no one had strapped Jesse to a metal bed frame to press live wires to his skin, electricity drawn from a socket on the wall. Even if it was just a car battery... the places they could have applied the electrified cables. Gabriel shuddered, imagination taking him somewhere dark and cruel. He had heard Jesse sob before, heard him scream and cry and whimper in pain. He could hear those same noises in his head now and he hated it.  
  
When it got too painful for Jack to think about, he turned over and scooped Jesse against his chest, crushing him into a tight hug. Jesse grumbled, pulled from his sleep. He found himself in Jack’s arms and smiled a little, obviously happy to see him. Happy enough that he didn’t mind being woken up. He looped his arm around Jack’s neck and nuzzled his cheek, craving the comfort of his touch.   
  
“I love you, Jesse,” Jack whispered fiercely to him.   
  
“I love you, too,” Jesse whispered back tiredly before dozing off again, falling asleep in Jack’s embrace.   


* * *

  
In the morning, they tried to go about things as normally as possible. Jack and Gabe had long since agreed that they would never treat Jesse differently for any reason. Not because he was a rescue. Not because of his missing arm. Not because of anything that had happened to him. Anything new they found out about his past and what he’d been through would always be something they considered, but they were never going to stop loving him or start walking on egg shells around him.  
  
“Are you feeling okay after last night?” Jack asked him over breakfast.   
  
Jesse looked at him from across the table and shrugged innocently. He seemed alright. It was easy to tell when he was in a bad mood, and he definitely wasn’t in one right now.   
  
“Do you want to talk about it?” Jack added hopefully.   
  
Jesse shook his head. No, he didn’t want to.   
  
“Okay.” Even though he wanted Jesse to open up to him, Jack readily accepted when he didn’t. He understood. He wasn’t going to push it. “If you ever do, you know you can talk to Gabriel or I whenever you want.”   
  
_Mm-hmm_ , he hummed. He knew.   
  
After they finished eating, they started packing. Their vacation was over. The long weekend was done, and it was time to head back home. They all worked together, filling their suitcases, collecting every trace of themselves from the cabin. Jesse helped carry bags out to the car, stacking them up by the trunk for Gabriel to fit them inside.   
  
It felt like the day they had arrived all over again. Dappled sunlight danced over the roof of the SUV, leaves shivering as a hot breeze rolled through. It was weird how different things were now, just a few days later. How many things Jesse had seen and done for the first time. How much more they knew about him, from him uttering just a few words.   
  
The car was unbearably hot when they finally got in. Jack rolled down the windows to let some wind flow in while the air conditioning struggled to produce anything cold. He pulled out of the driveway and they started to leave, finding their way through the back roads to the interstate.   
  
Jesse laid his arm on the ledge of the open window and he put his chin in the crook of his elbow. He stared out at the trees as they passed by. The wind ruffled his hair. He watched as the woods thinned, opening up to a stunning view of the lake.   
  
“Can I ask something?” Jesse said, turning to look towards the front seat.   
  
“Yes, you can,” Gabe allowed.   
  
“We ever comin’ back here?”   
  
Jack glanced over at Gabriel, and Gabriel glanced right back. They shared a look.   
  
“Do you want to?” Gabe asked, genuinely unsure if Jesse would ever want to return.   
  
Jesse looked out at the lake again. It looked even deeper blue from afar. White sunlight sparked across the surface. “Yeah,” He said, nodding a little like he was sure of it. “Tracer too. She can come.”   
  
There was a real relief that came with knowing Jesse wanted to come back. He’d tried new things, met new people, and spent the entire trip being held, and kissed, and loved. All that happiness didn’t just disappear because of one bad night, or one bad memory. He’d had a good time, and he would have a good time again if they ever came back. He had owners who loved him, who would never hurt him, and a whole life of good things ahead of him. Nothing in his past could steal that from him.  
  
“Sure, Jesse,” Jack said, looking into the rearview mirror to see the sub’s face. “Anything you want.”   
  
Jesse laid his arm in the window again, resting his head in his elbow. The last edges of the lake passed by, tapering into the distance.   
  
He was smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> .  
> .  
> .  
> the song jesse picked to listen to was 'i've been thinking about you' by londonbeat. feel free to imagine jack singing it.
> 
> send requests or prompts ➝ [here](https://curiouscat.me/deathtouch)  
> follow me on twitter ➝ [here](https://twitter.com/deathtouchxx)  
> thanks for reading ✩°｡⋆


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